The controversial new version of the Gershwin-Heyward opera now playing in Cambridge, Mass – directed by Diane Paulus and starring Audra McDonald – has been approved by the Gershwin and Heyward estates, clearing the way for a New York transfer.
Author: Matthew Westphal
That Rediscovered Oscar Wilde Play? His Grandson Says It’s Bogus
“Merlin Holland [says] that his grandfather did no more than devise a ‘minimal’ scenario – just a few paragraphs – for a drama called Constance, which Wilde jotted down in a letter of 1894. ‘He never wrote a word of the play'” that London’s King’s Head Theatre is presenting as “a genuine, brand new, Oscar Wilde play.”
Paulo Szot: ‘My Life Led Me To Opera But Musicals Were Always My Secret Lover’
The heartthrob Brazilian baritone leapt to stardom in the latest Broadway revival of South Pacific. He is finding that his success in Rodgers and Hammerstein, far from causing to lose caste, has boosted his opera career.
Authors Of Young-Adult Novel Say They Were Told To Make Gay Character Straight
Sherwood Smith and Rachel Manija Brown, established young-adult authors who have co-written a book titled Stranger, say that an “agent from a major agency… offered to sign us on the condition that we make the gay character straight, or else remove his viewpoint and all references to his sexual orientation.”
What Do You Get When You Cross A Gamelan And A Celeste? Björk Shows Us
“Incorporating gamelan-like bronze bars in a celeste housing, the gameleste is the work of the British percussionist Matt Nolan and the Icelandic organ craftsman Björgvin Tómasson,” who were commissioned by Björk for her latest album.
Hunka Burnin’ Love: What Makes A Pyromaniac?
“[M]otivations for fire-setting behavior are notoriously slippery, and labeling someone properly as a pyromaniac is no easy task for psychiatric investigators. What separates ‘normal’ childhood experimentation from the serious cases … still isn’t entirely clear.”
Chairman Mao’s Radio Calisthenics, Updated For 21st-Century Chinese
“This government-promoted 40-minute workout, full of kung-fu-type lunges and kicks, was established by Chairman Mao in 1951 to train China’s proletariat in the fight against the capitalist West. And now … the exercise has been overhauled to prepare the masses for the next stage of the fight – a long, a healthy future in front of their computers.”
Pritzker Prize Jury Gets A Real Judge
“Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer will join the jury for the Pritzker Prize, architecture’s top honor, Pritzker officials announced this morning. Joining Breyer on the eight-person jury will be architect Zaha Hadid, who won the prize in 2004.”
High-Tech Marketers Hate The ‘The’ Word
Amazon’s Jeff Bezos never refers to “the Kindle.” Apple won’t allow “the Mac” or “the iPad.” “In Silicon Valley especially, dropping ‘the’ before product names has become an article of faith.” Says one marketing exec, “When you can drop an article, the brand takes on a more iconic feel.”
John Calley, 81, Producer Of Hollywood Landmarks And Savior Of Studios
He “was known for his unusually artistic approach in running three major Hollywood studios and overseeing some of the most successful movies of the last 50 years … Rather than cranking out franchise films and other safely commercial fare … Calley believed that successful moviemaking boiled down to one thing: making good films.”